Even in the chaos of the surroundings, it was beautiful.
Voices rang out over the street, somewhere between a chorus and crowd noise, and very unlike a human street. Faeries flew overhead in every direction. Some in pairs, some singly, others with their families, their little faerie children swinging between them, their small wings inadequate to the task of holding them aloft yet.
I smelled roses and lavender, vanilla and coffee. I caught notes of sea water and cotton and lemons …
It was all a little overwhelming.
“Come,” Roseus said. “Lockwood, why don’t you carry your injured friend to speed us along? She won’t mind, will she?”
Lockwood looked at me for an answer.
“Of course not,” I said. I trusted Lockwood to carry me, and smiled to show him that.
Much more gently this time, he lifted me into his arms as if I weighed no more than a doll. We lifted off after Roseus and Orianna, heading toward the glimmering castle of shifting colors.
“It looks like crystal …” I murmured, staring into its depths. Even as clear as it was, I could see nothing through it.
“The Court of Summer is the oldest building in the Seelie territory,” Lockwood said. “It was the very first thing ever built here. Its sister castle is in the Unseelie territory.”
“They have the same castle?” I asked. Though I appreciated his effort, I missed being carried by Orion.
“It’s … similar,” Lockwood said. “Also made of solidified magic. Though I believe it differs in appearance from ours.”
We came in for a landing on the outskirts of a grand garden, filled with flowers, fountains, and shrubbery. It was quiet up on the hill, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Two guards in white armor more elaborate than I had yet seen, greeted us.
“Good evening,” Roseus said, giving the same signal with his hands that Lockwood had back at the farm. “I bring a Seelie to speak before the court.”
“It shall have to wait until the morning,” the soldier replied through his mask. “They are in recess.”
“Of course,” Roseus said, then beckoned to us. “Come this way. We’ll find you quarters for the evening.”
“Lockwood?” I asked, voice low, looking at the faeries strolling through the garden around us. “Doesn’t anyone recognize you?”
“If they do, no one will say anything while we are with the general,” he replied quietly.
The doors into the castle were large and crystalline as well, and I gaped as they opened, revealing a vast world beyond, surely far larger than the castle that held it.
We crossed the threshold into a tropical paradise.
A crystal blue lake filled the center of the room, perfectly round, yet still appearing oddly natural. I could barely see the shore on the other side. Water washed lazily against the shore, glowing an unearthly cyan from within.
The ceiling overhead stretched far out of reach, but I could see faeries flying up there among glowing crystals of all different colors, glowing and shimmering just like the rest of Starvale. Another purple crystal walkway stretched across the lake, and hovering in its middle was another chunk of rock just like the city rested upon.
“Lockwood … is that a miniature replica of the city?” I asked, pointing to the floating mass.
“It is,” Lockwood said. “It is a magical map, allowing the court to observe anything that goes on within Seelie borders. Inside of Starvale, specifically, but if the need arose, they could change the map to show any city belonging to the Seelie.”
“Whoa …” I stared at the floating Starvale. A male faerie with flowing blonde hair and periwinkle wings fluttered down over the map, and indicated something to another faerie close behind. The map flared, and the portion of the city he pointed to grew larger, as if the map was zooming as it might on a smartphone.
“Come,” Roseus called, waving us farther inside.
We followed him through a wide passageway with large windows on either side. Each looked out onto a different landscape, every one utterly different from the environs outside. One was covered in delicate, pure snow, another a desert of bright yellow sand. I saw one that looked just like the forest that Lockwood and I had been in when we first arrived in Faerie, but I couldn’t be sure it was the same.
I had hundreds of questions, but I tried to act like I was a Seelie and that all of this wasn’t as fascinating to me as it really was. I was kinda torn, because in my role as recent outcast, I maybe could have gotten away with asking some questions, but … if I slipped up, no good would have come of it, so I shut my mouth and walked on.
Orianna had appeared beside me, reaching out and taking my hand in her own, squeezing it tightly. I stared at it for a moment, eyeing her. She’d run kind of hot and cold on me since we’d opted to take her in, and half the time I couldn’t even remember why I’d agreed to that.
Oh, right. Pity.
I smiled reassuringly at her. My commitment stood; I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. I may not have known her motives yet, or what she wanted, but I was starting think she was harmless enough, if a little annoying. Her flippant attitude was just to hide the sensitivity underneath.
I guess she was at least a little like me. Whatever she was feeling, though, she evinced only awe as she looked around, taking the castle in as we moved on down the corridor.
I could understand why she would be nervous with so many Seelie around. Not to mention the guards, who appeared almost as frequent as the civilian faeries, many of whom wore elegant dresses, the men in tunics and wearing belts of shining metal.
“I wonder why everyone is so dressed up,” I whispered to her.
“These are nobles,” she said. “Those with influence and power. They always dress like that.”
“How many of them do you think are glamoured?” I asked.
“Oh, all of them,” she said. “Their hair, their faces, their gowns. All of it glamoured.” A flicker of expression ran across her face just as surely as if I were seeing through her own facade, but there was nothing magical about the contempt it revealed. “For a supposedly truthful people, the Seelie have their own special brand of lying.”
“Why not just change those things?” I asked, as I tried to consider what she might have meant with that jab at the Summer fae.
“Glamours can be changed any time,” she said. “These women could have a different dress for each meal of the day.”
I could see the appeal in that. How nice it would be to be able to wear sweatpants and baggie T-shirts to school, but look like I was wearing something super cute, or as if I actually cared about doing my hair?
I could wake up and never do my hair or makeup again. I wondered if glamours worked on Earth …
A grand staircase appeared, wide enough for four or five people to be able to walk up it, but there was a large opening in the middle as it spiraled overhead, and I quickly understood why.
Faeries fluttered up and down that wide vertical pass, some hand in hand with other fae, others zipping up as if to deliver a message to someone higher up in the castle, still others reading or examining something in their hands.
“This whole place is just … amazing,” I said, staring up at the staircase. Even with their wings, there were almost as many faeries taking the stairs, walking elegantly up and down. They had a sort of grace to them that the flying fae lacked, even the ones who seemed to be taking their time doing so.
“If you will remain here, I shall go and speak to an attendant, and get you squared away in guest quarters, yes?” Roseus beamed at the three of us.
“Of course,” Lockwood said, inclining his head.
Roseus started off down another wide passageway, this one lined with dark wood, with glowing buds hanging from vines that grew out of the ceiling.
“All right,” Lockwood said in a low voice, turning to Orianna and me. “Let’s agree that I am the one that is here to see the court. You two are here with me, and nothing more. I don’t want
you to be subjected to additional scrutiny.”
“But I thought that I was going into the court with you,” I said.
“You will speak when we are presented to the court, but they need not know that yet,” he said quietly. “We need to get through this night with as little interest from others as is possible, then tomorrow we can present our case before the court. We will just keep our heads down. Especially you.”
I realized he was staring at me, and not the Unseelie. “What do you mean, me?” I asked.
“You are notorious for trouble finding you, and we cannot afford for trouble to find us here.”
“All right, here we are,” Roseus said, stepping back out of the dark hall. “These three will be taking you to your rooms.”
My eyes widened as I stared at three little … pixies? They were no bigger than my hand, hovering in the air, little stones dangling from their necks glowing brightly. They looked only marginally bigger than the ones I’d been attacked by in the limo just … two days before? Was that all it had been?
The pixie on the far right with bright red wings and beady blue eyes like a cat’s flew over right over to me, hovering in front of my nose. “Happy, happy, little Seelie. I am Nino, and I shall take you to your room.” His voice was high pitched, squeaky, almost like what I imagined a mouse would sound like. Every time Nino moved, there was a soft tinkling sound, like miniature wind chimes.
Orianna’s little pixie was yanking on her hair, which was making Orianna frown and glare. “Stop! Stop!” Orianna was saying as the pixie pulled her along a side corridor of glowing emerald stone.
“Come along, little Seelie,” Nino said, tugging at my hand. “We must go up the stairs. General Roseus tells me that you hurt your wing?”
“I did, yes,” I said, and I felt bad for lying to such a tiny creature. He was warm against my fingers, like a flashlight bulb.
Nino buzzed with exuberance as he pulled at me. “Come along, come along!” he chittered.
I looked around, expecting Lockwood, at least, to follow me. But he was being led back the way we’d come.
“Wait, where are they going?” I asked.
“Being taken to their rooms, of course,” Nino said, voice a squeak. “Just as I take you to yours.”
“But I thought we would have had rooms together, or at least near one another …”
Nino did not respond to this, just kept pulling me. I probably could have resisted, but he seemed so determined to get me where I was going that I didn’t fight back. Fear flickered inside me as I watched Lockwood and Orianna flying away from me in opposite directions. I watched as Lockwood turned to look at me, and he nodded. I took it to mean he thought it was safe, and just went along with Nino.
“How did little Seelie hurt her wing?” Nino asked as we started to ascend the stairs.
“I was in the neutral territory for a little while,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure at this point what the going lie was, and without Lockwood to back me up, I stayed vague.
“Oh,” Nino said. “Too dangerous for little Seelie. Little Seelie must take care not to hurt herself.”
“Stellar advice,” I said. “I will definitely be trying not to hurt myself going forward.”
“Good, good,” Nino said. “Little Seelie will have a much easier life if so.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but I had nothing but snark to offer, and Nino was being sincere, my irony flying over his little head. Of course I hadn’t set out to hurt myself—and I wasn’t actually hurt—but whatever, it was decent advice if I had gotten injured. Just don’t get hurt anymore. Perfect. Yeah.
We made it to the top of the stairs, and I wasn’t trying very hard to hide the fact that I was out of breath. I didn’t particularly like cardio, and it was catching up to me now. Walking ten thousand miles over the last few days had already tired me out, and walking up a never-ending, ornate stairwell was the icing on the exhaustion cake.
“Little Seelie must miss flying,” Nino said, watching me huff and puff.
“I really do,” I said, thinking of the wind rushing over my face as I flew on Orion’s back. I sighed.
But my exhaustion quickly melted away as Nino led me down a long hall lined with different colored doors. They were all very close to one another, and made from different materials.
“Here we are,” Nino said, coming to a stop in front of a door made from a pale, grey wood. The door appeared unfinished, rough and splintery. It was a strangely out of place note in an otherwise flawlessly charming castle, and I stared at it.
“Do I just … go in?” I asked.
Nino nodded his tiny head, his cat eyes fixed on me.
There was no handle, so I just pushed the door inward with a little thrill of worry. Was this a trap?
All of my fears passed away as I stepped into the most peaceful meadow that I had ever seen.
The floor was all grass, filled with fragrant flowers and sunlight shone down from overhead. I looked up and squinted in the great blue expanse.
It was the sky. It had to be.
There was even a gentle breeze, fluttering the flowers at my feet and the trees in the far distance. Butterflies of every color slowly made their way from flower to flower, their wings like brilliant jewels in the light. I felt like I should be singing and twirling like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.
“This is my room?” I asked, trying to take it all in. It was … a lot, since there were no walls.
Nino zoomed in front of me, giggling. “It is, it is. Do you like it?”
I looked around. The door had totally disappeared. “Uhm … problem. How do I get out?”
“When not needed, the door disappears,” Nino said. “Look for it, and it shall be there.”
I thought about leaving, wheeled around, and there it was, standing once more among the tall grasses. And then I blinked, and it was gone.
“Okay, that’s magical,” I said. “Now … what about a bed? Or a bath?”
Just as I mentioned them, I noticed a bed made from twisted roots out of a nearby tree, forming a four poster. White, sheer fabric hung from the canopy and rustled gently in the breeze. A bathtub, deep and made from green, shining stone, appeared beside it.
“Wow …” I gawked.
Nino laughed. “Is little Seelie pleased?”
“I’ve … never stayed in a room quite like this …” I said. “So … yeah. I am pleased.”
“Wonderful,” Nino said. “Is there anything else needed?”
“I can’t think of anything.”
“Most fabulous,” Nino chittered. “Your servants will be along soon to help you prepare for the ball.”
My stomach lurched as I stared at the little pixie creature. “Wait—there’s a ball?”
Nino nodded. “Tonight, indeed. Long-planned. General Roseus has invited you and your party to attend with him.”
“Uh … and me without a thing to wear,” I said.
Nino squeaked. “It will all be attended to. Your servants will be here in half an hour. Feel free to bathe yourself or rest until they arrive and they will bathe you. If you need anything, just call.”
And with a snap of his tiny fingers, Nino was gone.
“What—no one needs to bathe me,” I said, looking around. “I am fully capable of bathing myself, okay? Nino?”
But he didn’t answer. I was alone in this bizarre, beautiful space.
“Great,” I murmured. “A ball. I’ve never even been to prom, and now I’m attending a ball in the land of Faerie. Because the pressure to wear the right thing for Homecoming wasn’t intense enough.”
I looked down at myself, wearing a blah sweatshirt and some faded jeans. It wasn’t what I looked like to anyone else, but it was how I was—bland, modern human, and utterly out of place in the magic of Faerie.
Butterflies fluttered slowly around my ankles in the meadow grass and flowers, and I wondered if I had accidentally swallowed any of them, the way that my stomach was feeling.
&nb
sp; Balls meant dresses, which meant that I was going to have to put one on. And given what I’d seen so far in this land … it was going to be stunning, spectacular, and completely out of place on mundane, little old me.
Chapter 22
It didn’t take me long to figure out what Nino had been telling me about being able to message Lockwood and Orianna. All I had to do was think about talking to someone, and a small pool of water formed in the ground just as the door had appeared before.
A fountain shot straight out of it, and as the water cascaded down, the shape of a faerie woman emerged, composed entirely of water.
“To whom do you wish to call upon?” Her voice echoed as if she were in a cave.
“Lockwood,” I said. “I’m not sure what room he is in—”
But the faerie disappeared, and a moment later, there was Lockwood, or rather his silhouette, made from water, standing there on the surface of the little pond in the meadow’s grass.
“Uh … hi,” I said, looking at him curiously. “Is this live?”
Lockwood chuckled, his voice echoing as well. “Yes, it is. How are you liking your accommodations?”
I gazed around. “It’s … breathtaking. Can you see it?”
He shook his head. “No. I can only see your silhouette in my own two-way looking glass.”
“But you’re a fountain of water to me.”
Lockwood grinned. “Interesting. What sort of room are you in?”
“It’s like a meadow.”
He nodded. “A nature room. How very pleasant.”
“What sort of room are you in?” I asked.
He looked around himself. “It’s … like an old study on Earth. Lots of books, lots of wood. There’s a great window looking out over Starvale.” He turned to look at me once more. “I assume you needed something?”
“This ball …” I said. “They are coming to bring me dresses, right? Because won’t the glamour I’m wearing hide whatever they bring me?”
Lockwood nodded his head. “A very good point. All right. It should be easy for me to rework your glamour to just your wrist, wings, and your hair. One moment …”
Lies in the Dark Page 17
